University and College Union Strike & Rally

At 11.00am, members of the University and College Union gathered in market Square for a rally.

At 11.00am, members of the University and College Union gathered in market Square for a rally.

They were on strike, to draw attention to to changes in their pensions and working coditions.

UCU said :

The university employers had to get back round the table and negotiate with UCU in an escalating row over pensions.

UCU members in around 500 universities and colleges have been on strike in the culmination of a week of action that has seen five strike days. UCU members in 67 universities across the UK started the action last week opposing changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) pension.

The union says it is willing to clear its diary to talk to the employers and has invited them for talks through the arbitration service ACAS. However, despite pressure from the National Union of Students who has supported UCU's strike action, the employers' representatives, the Employers Pension Forum (EPF), are still refusing to talk to the union.

UCU said the day had been a huge success and apologised again to students who had seen their studies disrupted. The union said it shared students' frustrations and urged them to keep putting the pressure on EPF to join the union for talks.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The action we have seen today across the country has been quite magnificent. The support of students for our action has left the employers looking isolated and foolish. We share students' frustrations that today's action was forced upon us by the intransigence of the employers. We have no interest in their reasons for refusing to talk to us so far, we just want them to change their mind and start talking to us now. This dispute can go nowhere unless we start talking.'